Alex Tuch makes first on-ice appearance with Buffalo Sabres at morning skate

Tuch wore a gold noncontact jersey and skated as an extra during the workout. He was joined as extras by Casey Mittelstadt and Mark Jankowski, both of whom were in full-contact roles.

"Definitely it was good to get back on the ice," said a smiling Tuch. "I'm just trying to come in every day with a positive attitude and try to uplift the guys, put a smile on couple guys' faces and bring some positive energy to the ice."

Tuch said he would leave any talk of return timelines up to the Sabres' coaching staff and front office but it's believed he's not going to play until the calendar turns to 2022.

"I don't know the potential timeline," coach Don Granato said. "It's not for a few weeks anyway but we were very excited as a staff and I think the players were as well to see him out there."

Tuch said he's been watching the Sabres' games to study the team's system and learn individual players' tendencies.

"All I know is I want to go in and work hard and hopefully have chemistry with whoever I'm playing with because there's a lot of really good guys up and down this lineup," he said. "So it's going to be fun when I first put on that jersey to play my first game, that's for sure."

The news is getting progressively better on Mittelstadt, who has been out with an upper-body injury since the season opener Oct. 14 vs. Montreal. Tuesday's practice here and Wednesday's workout in Sunrise, Fla., will be crucial in determining his timeline. The Sabres play the Florida Panthers on Thursday night and travel to Carolina to meet the Hurricanes on Saturday.

"There is potential that he can play on the road trip," Granato said. "And we will have two practices before our first game on the road in Florida. Those will give us a real good gauge as to the probability or not of that happening."

Jankowski, who has spent the season in Rochester, was signed to an NHL contract on Sunday and Arttu Ruotsalainen was returned to the Amerks. The Sabres did not make any changes during the skate to the lineup that played in Saturday's 3-2 overtime loss to Detroit, although Granato said a couple players are nursing bumps and bruises and it's possible Jankowski could play tonight.

The Sabres suffered a 5-2 loss Nov. 4 in Seattle in one of their worst games of the season. The Kraken went into a slump after that game but have gone 3-1 in their last four with wins over Washington, Carolina and Florida. Their 4-1 road win Saturday against the Panthers stopped Florida's 11-game home winning streak from the start of the season, denying the Panthers a chance to set the NHL record.

"We hope to against their pressure have a lot more calm and better support, better execution," Granato said. "... It's a great challenge because you have that mental block in your head of that awful night in  Seattle for us. And then you've got to respect the fact that they're hot right now. But that's all mental. It's getting to our game and executing the way we we need to execute."

The goaltending matchup will be Dustin Tokarski vs. Chris Driedger. Defenseman Will Borgen, taken off the Sabres' roster by Seattle in the expansion draft, made his Kraken debut on Saturday and will play again tonight.

So Mittelstadt and Jankowski are skating as extras in the opening drills....As are Wolanin and Butcher. #Sabres look the same as Saturday.Skinner-Thompson-OlofssonMurray-Cozens-OkposoAsplund-Girgensons-BjorkHinostroza-Eakin-Hayden---Dahlin-PysykBryson-JokiharjuHagg-Miller

— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) November 29, 2021

Goalie coach Mike Bales doing some quick work with Alex Tuch. #Sabres pic.twitter.com/EQy3kPtl6z

— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) November 29, 2021